Authors Trailblazers for Local Conservation

Trail authors all across the country don’t stop their contributions to outdoor communities at the back cover. Many of them are avidly involved with trail networks and conservation & restoration initiatives in their own hometowns. It’s this sort of (often volunteer) work that bolsters their expertise on the hikes and trails they outline in their work.

This is one such story!

We at Wilderness Press are thrilled to learn that one of our contributors, Craig Carey (Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara & Ventura, Wilderness Press 2012), has just joined the Los Padres ForestWatch as Director of Outreach and Outdoor Programs. The LPFW is the only nonprofit org. devoted solely to protecting wildlife habitats and landscapes in the Los Padres National Forest.

Craig will have a full plate with LPFW. He will oversee all outdoor programing and public outreach initiatives, along with coordinating volunteer preservation and restoration efforts throughout Los Padres. He is especially eager, he explained to Santa Barbara Independent, to begin working with children outdoors. “I’m excited to join the ForestWatch staff, and especially to get our youth involved in caring for the forest,” Craig says. “The more our kids learn to love and protect their wild lands now, the more prepared they’ll be to fight for it in the future.”

It’s no secret why Craig was chosen for the job. His guide to Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara & Ventura is one of Wilderness Press’s bestselling titles this past year, offering — as one recent review puts it — the most “detailed route descriptions and copious supplemental information about the area.”

Click here for more information on hiking and backpacking through Santa Barbara, Ventura and the Los Padres Forest.